By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-12-15 12:05:29 | Word Count: 363
In recent months a spate of “green” buildings with pleasantly modest carbon footprints have opened in Providence, most notably the new Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island headquarters, in downtown’s Capital Center district. And work has begun on a building made up of freight shipping containers that is also supposed to be friendly to the environment, if not to the eye.
That project is just off Atwells Avenue, near a so-called “green corridor” along the Woonasquatucket River, in the Promenade District. That neighborhood appears to be the Rhode Island branch of the Obama administration’s green-jobs initiative.
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Mayor Cicilline toured the district recently. “It’s a part of the city where we’re really starting to see the green economy grow,” he said. “We see it as an opportunity to create jobs, grow our tax base and protect the environment all at the same time.”
The tour highlighted six businesses employing more than 200 workers whose jobs range from making parts for solar panels to green buildings to consulting on sustainability.
The Promenade District has competition, of course, from, among other places, Quonset Point, where Governor Carcieri has centered the state’s green-industry hub, focusing at least for now on Deepwater Wind’s development of offshore-wind technology. Climate-friendly firms also operate in Middletown, South Kingstown and other locations in the state. In Johnston, FM Global has just opened up its new headquarters, also said to be very green, at least compared with most office buildings.
All this makes a lot of sense whether human activities are playing a greater or a lesser role in global warming. Sustainable development is a great hedge, a lighter footprint helps fight pollution, and over time will reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil, too. Aside from those benefits, we’re happy to see that it represents jobs, too, right here in Rhode Island.
